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I’m so mad, I’m shaking. “Bullshit… That’s bullshit, Talia, and you know it. He’s not on our goddamn side.”
Stephen stands there with a cocky ass smirk on his face.
I crack my neck as adrenaline rushes through me. “You keep looking at me like that, and I’ll break your fucking nose.”
He places his arm over Talia’s shoulders. “I don’t like being threatened, Tommy. Plus, we’re family. We have the same bloodline, and you shouldn’t talk to family like that.”
Talia stares at me, looking guilty as sin. I might be the one with blood on my hands, but this was her. This was all her.
She finally makes eye contact with me, but I can’t even look at her. “Tommy, we made a deal with him. He’s not going to say anything, and he’s going to give me back control of the trust.”
Talia doesn’t show a hint of emotion—not one hint of anything toward the people we just killed for her. And now I’m going to have to live with that for the rest of my life. She blinks at me, then drags her gaze over to Didi, but I stand in front of Didi and Remy. I don’t want her looking at Didi ever again.
“Can we carry on this conversation elsewhere?” Remy says with Didi clutched tighter in his arms. Seven bodies lay lifeless and gutted. “I think people are coming.”
The six of us abandon the bodies and run.
TOMMY
As soon as we get back to the manor, Remy takes Didi upstairs to clean her up, and I start packing. I stomp upstairs with my bag packed just as Remy comes downstairs. I throw my suitcase at the door, turn, and face him. “Didi and I are leaving. I don’t care about the money. I don’t care about my oath. I’m taking my girl, and we’re leaving. We don’t owe you anything anymore.”
Talia stands at the door to the kitchen. “Tommy, we can fix this.”
“Didi can’t stay here. Eventually, someone will find her. They will tie those killings back to her…to all of us.”
Her eyes twitch, but not from emotion; it’s from the blind rage she has hidden beneath her flawless exterior. “Where will you go?”
My eyes dart between the two siblings that have, up until a few months ago, been my entire life. I don’t know what life will be like without them, but I can’t be a part of this. I’m not cut out for it.
“It’s best if none of you know, and if you chase me down, I will bring this Order to its knees. If I go to jail for this, you will, too. I’ll make sure everyone in this goddamn country knows what is happening here.”
Talia waves her hand. “Tommy, don’t be ridiculous. You need to tell us where you’re going so we can help you.”
“I don’t need or want your help, Talia.”
She had the audacity to bring that prick Stephen here with us. He’s in the kitchen having a conversation with Lucy. He ain’t one of us.
“Why is he here?” I demand.
She folds her arms. “I’m going to marry him.”
“That’s bullshit.” I shake my head and stare at Remy. “We should just kill him, too.”
“It’s the only way,” Talia says. “It’s over now. He’s agreed to stay quiet about everything. He’s one of us now, too.”
I throw my bag onto the couch and grab my jacket just as the phone rings again. It’s rung fifteen times, and it’s only a matter of minutes before the Vital henchmen will swarm this place. The news of what we did is probably on every media outlet all over the country.
We have to get out of here…Didi can’t stay here one more night. Her sanity won’t stand it.
I walk up and face my best friend. “Bring her down here. We have to go before your old man gets here.”
Remy folds his arms, his body unbudging. “You’re not taking her. I can hide her and keep her safe better than you can.”
I push him and he pushes me back, but I stand my ground. “Hell yeah, I am taking her.”
He punches me right in the face, so hard my lip splits open, the impact causing my head to bang against the door. I calmly compose myself, forgiving him but not backing down, and wipe the blood from my lip, the metallic taste slipping onto my tongue and between my teeth.
My instinct is to punch him back, but I can’t—I empathize with what he’s going through. Instead, I place my hand on his shoulder and wait for him to break my hand, but he doesn’t. His rigid body softens because he knows I’m right. He understands how twisted his sister is, and his oath to protect Talia is stronger than his love for Didi. He can’t keep Didi safe, and he knows it.
